The T of tulip is not true...
since what is depraved is carnal mind, flesh mind (=entity),
which was acquired at the fall and which is not synonymous to the soul.
the soul herself who belongs to God was hurt by the fall
and acquired that mind but is NOT the same term as that mind...
the 'mind' as soul is a platonic concept, passed to church fathers...
a Greek view where the 'daemon' of wisdom IS the soul....
and for them, the soul was a god or oversoul, with no feelings,
a bit like a spirit guide. Very bad! the soul in this context
of the greeks had no body...it was only a daemon = demon.
an IT with no sex... and, the Greek language reflects its belief,
having a neuter gender... but Hebrew will have none of that!
the soul in hebrew context before the fall is both soul and body, undivided,
npsh is the term... and is not synonymous to the Greek 'soul' concept
which has no sex and has no body but is an IT.
the term npsh is also not synonym of the current flesh body...
as we can see and witness that this body dies, is matter, and
is not the same as the soul...
the soul as undivided means that the death of the material body
and Its carnal mind disembodies when it dies, being inert matter,
and represents something outside of npsh...
which is His type of nature for us, the body made by God before
the fall.
Nothing of His is signatureless (such as in an 'It', inert matter, death).
His context is Life, not inert matter glued to a poor soul as is
our case now, but not for long because we have His promise He will get us out...
So the depraved is this fleshmind and its type of nature and body.
But the T in tulip, not understanding npsh and being Glued to Greek philosophy,
assumed that it was the soul God made which is depraved....
Nothing of His can be depraved!
The word "depravity" has modern connotations that make it difficult to understand what "total depravity" means. The word "depravity" sounds like it's specifically talking about drug addicts, drunkards, murders, rapists, etc. But what "total depravity" actually means is that without first being born from above by the Holy Spirit, we are evil and unable to respond to the Gospel. Here's a scriptural description of total depravity:
Romans 3
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
One might argue that Jesus contradicts this, "but you, being evil, know how to give good things to your son". How can it be true that "there is no one who does good" if Jesus says, "you, being evil, know how to give bread to your son"?
First, note that Jesus says, "
you, being evil". That should tell you right there that our natural state is being evil. Unless we are born again, we remain evil. That is what "total depravity" means.
True good comes from God. A reprobate gives his son bread because it benefits himself. It's a source of natural obligation even if he doesn't want to do it, or even pride, which is evil. A believer gives his son bread because the Spirit of God moves him to do what's good.
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